Apparatus and method for controlling reverse driving

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and a method for controlling a reverse driving are disclosed. The apparatus includes: a movement trace storage unit configured to detect and store the movement trace of the vehicle moving forward; a restricted driving area identifier configured to identify a restricted driving area; a reverse driving path determiner configured to identify whether a reverse driving request signal is received when the restricted driving area is identified, generate one or more driving paths, based on, the stored movement trace when the reverse driving request signal is received, and determine the reverse driving path, based on the one or more driving paths; and a movement controller configured to control movement of the vehicle to reverse the vehicle along the reverse driving path. The present disclosure has an effect of providing driving convenience by controlling a reverse driving when a vehicle enters a dead end or a one-way street.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.16/595,815 filed on Oct. 8, 2019, which claims priority from KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2018-0120061, filed on Oct. 8, 2018, which ishereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forthherein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method forcontrolling reverse driving.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Drivers feel more difficulty in reverse driving than forward driving ofa vehicle. This is because the driver should control a steering wheelwhile directly identifying several devices, such as a room mirror, sidemirrors, and a rear camera, in order to check a path and obstaclesduring reverse driving of the vehicle.

For example, when a driver of a vehicle enters a restricted drivingarea, such as a narrow road or a dead end or a one-way street, anddesires to reverse the vehicle, the driver should perform reversedriving while avoiding obstacles by identifying an interval between thevehicle and obstacles and directly determining whether the reversedriving is possible. Further, since the driver should drive the vehiclewhile avoiding obstacles and make the vehicle not be on one side on thereverse driving path, the driver is required to be skilled in and havespecial attention to driving.

Accordingly, technology for controlling reverse driving to assist thedriver in safely and conveniently reversing the vehicle is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the described background, an aspect of the presentdisclosure is to provide an apparatus and a method for controlling areverse driving to provide driving convenience by controlling autonomousreverse driving when a vehicle enters a dead end or a one-way street bymistake.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus anda method for controlling reverse driving to perform autonomous reversedriving while avoiding obstacles existing behind the vehicle.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forcontrolling a reverse driving is provided. The apparatus includes: animage sensor operable to be disposed on a vehicle so as to have a fieldof view of an exterior of the vehicle, the image sensor being configuredto capture image data; a location information receiver configured toreceive location information of the vehicle; and a controller comprisingat least one processor configured to process at least one piece of theimage data captured by the image sensor and the location information,wherein the controller identifies a restricted driving area, based on atleast one of a processing result of the image data and the locationinformation, determines a reverse driving path, based on a pre-storedmovement trace of the vehicle when the restricted driving area isidentified, and controls movement of the vehicle to reverse the vehiclealong the reverse driving path.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forcontrolling reverse driving is provided. The apparatus includes: animage sensor operable to be disposed at a vehicle so as to have a fieldof view of an exterior of the vehicle, the image sensor being configuredto capture image data; a non-image sensor operable to be disposed on thevehicle so as to have a field of sensing of an exterior of the vehicle,the non-image sensor being configured to capture sensing data; alocation information receiver configured to receive location informationof the vehicle; a domain control unit comprising a processor configuredto process at least one piece of the image data captured by the imagesensor and the sensing data captured by the non-image sensor and thelocation information, wherein the domain control unit detects and storesa movement trace of the vehicle moving forward, identify a restricteddriving area, based on at least one of the processing result of theimage data, the location information, and pre-stored map information,identifies whether a reverse driving request signal is received when therestricted driving area is identified, generates one or more drivingpaths, based on, the stored movement trace when the reverse drivingrequest signal is received, determines the reverse driving path, basedon the one or more driving paths, and controls movement of the vehicleto reverse the vehicle along the reverse driving path.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of controlling areverse driving is provided. The method includes: detecting and storinga movement trace of a vehicle moving forward; identifying a restricteddriving area, based on at least one of a processing result of imagedata, location information, and pre-stored map information; identifyingwhether a reverse driving request signal is received when the restricteddriving area is identified, generating one or more driving paths, basedon, the stored movement trace when the reverse driving request signal isreceived, and determining the reverse driving path, based on the one ormore driving paths; and controlling movement of the vehicle to reversethe vehicle along the reverse driving path.

As described above, according to the present disclosure, it is possibleto provide an apparatus and a method for controlling reverse driving toprovide driving convenience by controlling autonomous reverse drivingwhen a vehicle enters a dead end or a one-way street by mistake.

Further, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to preventa safety accident by providing an apparatus and a method for controllingreverse driving by which a vehicle can be autonomously reversed whileavoiding obstacles existing behind the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates elements included in an autonomous vehicle accordingto the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B illustrates elements included in a controller according to thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which a movement tracestorage unit included in a reverse driving control device stores amovement trace of a vehicle according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates another embodiment in which themovement trace storage unit included in the reverse driving controldevice stores the movement trace of the vehicle according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which a restricteddriving area identifier included in the reverse driving control deviceidentifies a restricted driving area according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which a reversedriving path determiner included in the reverse driving control devicedetermines a reverse driving path according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates another embodiment in which the reversedriving path determiner in the reverse driving control device determinesa reverse driving path according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates still another embodiment in which thereverse driving path determiner in the reverse driving control devicedetermines a reverse driving path according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which a local pathgenerator included in the reverse driving control device determines alocal path according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a reverse drivingcontrol method according to the present disclosure; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the reversedriving control method according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the descriptionof the elements of the present disclosure, terms “first”, “second”, “A”,“B”, “(a)”, “(b)” and the like may be used. These terms are merely usedto distinguish one structural element from other structural elements,and a property, an order, a sequence and the like of a correspondingstructural element are not limited by the term. It should be noted thatif it is described in the specification that one component is“connected,” “coupled” or “joined” to another component, a thirdcomponent may be “connected,” “coupled,” and “joined” between the firstand second components, although the first component may be directlyconnected, coupled or joined to the second component.

FIG. 1A illustrates elements included in an autonomous vehicle 10according to the present disclosure, and FIG. 1B illustrates elementsincluded in a controller 200 according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the autonomous vehicle 10 according to the presentdisclosure includes a navigation device 110, a map storage unit 120, areverse driving control device 130, and a driving device 140.

The navigation device 110 may provide location information acquired bycommunication with a satellite through a GPS signal. The locationinformation indicates information related to the location of the vehicle10.

The map storage unit 120 may store map information indicatinginformation on the map.

The rear drive control device 130 is a device for controlling, when itis identified that the vehicle 10 enters a dead end or a no passing roadby mistake during forward driving, movement of the vehicle 10 to allowthe vehicle 10 to perform the autonomous reverse driving.

The reverse driving control device 130 may receive information from thenavigation device 110 and generate and output a reverse control signal.

The reverse control signal is a signal transmitted to the driving device140 to control movement of the vehicle 10, such as a reverse drivingspeed, a steering angle, or braking of the vehicle 10 when the vehicle10 is reversed.

The reverse driving control device 130 may include an image sensor 131,a location information receiver 132, a controller 133, and a non-imagesensor 134.

The image sensor 131 may be disposed in the vehicle 10 to have a fieldof view of an exterior of the vehicle 10 and may capture image data.

At least one image sensor 131 may be mounted to each part of the vehicle10 to have a field of view of the front, side, or rear of the vehicle10.

Image information photographed by the image sensor 131 consists of imagedata, which corresponds to image data captured by the image sensor 131.Hereinafter, the image information photographed by the image sensor 131may be image data captured by the image sensor 131. The image sensor 131may be an image acquisition device comprising, but not limited to, acharge-coupled device (CCD), a CMOS image sensor, or a photo sensorincluding photodiodes. In one example, a camera may be used as the imagesensor 131.

The image data captured by the image sensor 131 may be generated, forexample, in one format of AVI, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, and JPEG in a rawform. The image data captured by the image sensor 131 may be processedby a processor.

The location information receiver 132 may receive location informationof the vehicle 10. Specifically, the location information receiver 132may receive location information of the vehicle 10 provided from thenavigation device 110 and provide the location information to performcalculations required for controlling the vehicle.

The controller 133 may include at least one processor configured toprocess at least one piece of the image data captured by the imagesensor 131 and the location information.

The controller 133 may identify a restricted driving area on the basisof at least one of the processing result of image data and the locationinformation, determine a reverse driving path on the basis of apre-stored movement trace of the vehicle 10 when the restricted drivingarea is identified, and control movement of the vehicle to reverse thevehicle 10 according to the reverse driving path.

The controller 133 can be implemented as a Domain Control Unit (DCU)which may integrate and perform a function of receiving and processinginformation of several vehicle sensors or relayingtransmission/reception of data generated by sensors and a function ofcontrolling reverse driving of the vehicle 10 by transmitting data to asteering control module, an acceleration control module, and a brakecontrol module.

The non-image sensor 134 may be disposed in the vehicle 10 to have adetection area for the outside of the vehicle 10, and may capturesensing data. The non-image sensor may include, for example, a radarsensor, a lidar sensor, and an ultrasound sensor.

According to an embodiment, the reverse driving control device 130according to the present disclosure using the DCU and the non-imagesensor 134 includes the image sensor 131 operable to be disposed on thevehicle 10 so as to have a field of view of an exterior of the vehicle10, the image sensor 131 being configured to capture image data, thenon-image sensor 134 operable to be disposed on the vehicle 10 so as tohave a field of sensing of an exterior of the vehicle 10, the non-imagesensor 134 being configured to capture sensing data; the locationinformation receiver 132 configured to receive location information ofthe vehicle 10; the domain control unit (DCU) including a processorconfigured to process at least one piece of the image data captured bythe image sensor 131 and the sensing data captured by the non-imagesensor 134 and the location information. The domain control unit (DCU)detects and stores a movement trace of the vehicle moving forward,identifies a restricted driving area, based on at least one of theprocessing result of the image data, the location information, andpre-stored map information, identifies whether a reverse driving requestsignal is received when the restricted driving area is identified,generates one or more driving paths, based on, the stored movement tracewhen the reverse driving request signal is received, determines thereverse driving path, based on the one or more driving paths, andcontrols movement of the vehicle 10 to reverse the vehicle 10 along thereverse driving path.

Meanwhile, the controller 133 may include elements for performing theabove-described operations, respectively. The detailed elements of thecontroller 133 are illustrated in FIG. 1B.

Referring to FIG. 1B, a controller 200 according to the presentdisclosure may include a movement trace storage unit 210, a restricteddriving area identifier 220, a rear driving path determiner 230, and amovement controller 240.

The movement trace storage unit 210 may detect and store a movementtrace of the forward moving vehicle 10.

The movement trace is a trace along which the vehicle 10 moves while thevehicle 10 forward moves.

The movement trace may be basically calculated using locationinformation of the vehicle 10. A detailed method thereof will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The restricted driving area identifier 220 may identify a restricteddriving area on the basis of at least one of the processing result ofthe image data, the location information, and pre-stored mapinformation.

The restricted driving area includes not only an area in which drivingis originally restricted, such as a dead end or a one-way street butalso an area, which is originally an area in which driving is possiblebut is not temporarily possible by other obstacles. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

When the vehicle 10 enters a restricted driving area by mistake, therestricted driving area identifier 220 may identify the restricteddriving area, detect a driving state of the vehicle 10, and pre-identifythe restricted driving area before the vehicle 10 enters the restricteddriving area.

When the restricted driving area is identified, the reverse driving pathdeterminer 230 may identify whether a reverse driving request signal isreceived, generate one or more driving paths based on the storedmovement trace when the reverse driving request signal is received, anddetermine a reverse driving path based on the one or more driving paths.

The reverse driving request signal is a signal input by a driver or auser to allow the vehicle 10 to perform the autonomous reverse driving.The reverse driving request signal is an electric signal generated by aphysical button or a touch screen.

The driving path is a path which the reverse driving path determiner 230generates for a drive from the location of the vehicle 10, at a timepoint when the reverse driving request signal is received, to adestination which the driver desires to reach. The number of drivingpaths may be one or more.

Among the driving paths, the reverse driving path refers to a drivingpath used when the vehicle 10 is reversed. The reverse driving path isdetermined on the basis of the generated driving paths. A detailedmethod thereof will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

The movement controller 240 may control movement of the vehicle 10 toallow the vehicle 10 to be reversed along the reverse driving path. Thatis, the movement controller 240 may generate a reverse driving controlsignal and transfer the reverse driving control signal to the drivingdevice 140 in order to control movement of the vehicle 10.

In order to control the reverse driving of the vehicle 10, the movementcontroller 240 may calculate at least one of a target acceleration, atarget speed, and a target steering angle and control movement of thevehicle 10.

When the restricted driving area is identified, the movement controller240 may first perform at least one control among deceleration controlfor decelerating the vehicle 10 and warning control for providing awarning.

For example, when the restricted driving area is identified, themovement controller 240 may generate a control signal to perform thewarning operation in the vehicle 10 or put on the brake on the vehicle10 and transfer the control signal to the driving device 140.

The controller 200 may further include a local path generator 250configured to generate a local path on the basis of at least one of theprocessing result of image data and driving information of the vehicle10.

The local path is a path on which the vehicle 10 should actually movewhile the vehicle 10 follows the reverse driving path. That is, whenthere are obstacles around the reverse driving path, the vehicle 10 isbasically reversed along the reverse driving path but is reversed whilecontrolling steering wheel in order to avoid the obstacles.

A method of generating the local path uses a Timed Elastic Band (TEB)algorithm. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The elements included in the controller 200 may be implemented ashardware, such as an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), a Domain ControlUnit (DCU), a Micro Controller Unit (MCU), and an Integrated Circuit(IC) and software, such as an algorithm.

The elements included in the controller 200 may transmit and receivesignals to and from each other through Controller Area Network (CAN)communication.

The driving device 140 may receive a reverse driving control signalcausing the vehicle 10 to move. Further, the driving device 140 mayreceive a control signal from the ECU causing the vehicle 10 perform thewarning operation.

Accordingly, the driving device 140 may include anacceleration/deceleration device, a steering device, a brake device, andvarious warning devices. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto.

Hereinafter, a detailed embodiment in which the movement trace storageunit 210 included in the drive control device 130 detects and stores amovement trace of the vehicle 10 will be described.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which the movementtrace storage unit 210 included in the drive control device 130 stores amovement trace 20 of the vehicle 10 according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the movement trace 20 may be detected through aconnection of location coordinates P of the vehicle 10 included in thelocation information of the vehicle 10, which is acquired by receptionof a GPS signal from a satellite 30 through the navigation device 110.

Meanwhile, the location of the vehicle detected only on the basis of thelocation information of the vehicle 10 acquired through reception of theGPS signal form the satellite 30 may be different from the real locationof the vehicle 10. Accordingly, it is required to correct the locationinformation on the basis of map information and the processing result ofthe image data acquired through detection of surroundings of the vehicle10.

For example, the movement trace storage unit 210 corrects the locationinformation by matching the location information with the mapinformation and the processing result of the image data while thevehicle 10 moves forward and detects the movement trace 20 from thecorrected location information.

The location information is information acquired through reception ofthe GPS signal from the satellite 30 by the navigation device 110, andthe map information is information acquired through extraction of mapinformation corresponding to the location information by the map storageunit 120.

In other words, the movement trace storage device 210 extracts locationcoordinates P by analyzing the location information received from thenavigation device 110, corrects the location coordinates P by matchingthe location information with the map information received from the mapstorage unit 120 and the processing result of the image data captured bythe image sensor 131, and detects the movement trace 20 from thecorrected location coordinates m.

The location coordinates P illustrated in FIG. 2 may be measured inevery time unit and may be successively measured in real time. However,the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the movement trace storage unit 210 may partially store themovement trace in order to efficiently manage a storage capacity.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates another embodiment in which themovement trace storage unit 210 included in the reverse driving controldevice 130 stores the movement trace 20 of the vehicle 10 according tothe present disclosure.

The movement trace storage unit 210 included in the reverse drivingcontrol device 130 according to the present disclosure may preset areference distance d, store only the movement trace 20 corresponding tothe reference distance d, and update and store the movement trace 20while the vehicle 10 moves forward.

That is, the movement trace storage unit 210 stores the movement trace20 corresponding to the preset reference distance d in the detectedmovement trace and updates the stored movement trace 20 in the unit ofreference distance d while the vehicle 10 moves forward.

Referring to <first time> of FIG. 3, the movement trace storage unit 210presets the reference distance d and stores the movement trace 20 fromlocation coordinates m4 of the vehicle 10 at the first time to locationcoordinates m1 of the vehicle 10, which is spaced apart from thelocation coordinates m4 by the reference distance d, among previouslocation coordinates m1 to m3.

The movement trace storage unit 210 updates the previously storedmovement trace 20 to store only the movement trace 20 corresponding tothe reference distance d while the vehicle 10 continuously movesforward.

Referring to <second time> of FIG. 3, the movement trace storage unit210 updates and stores the movement trace 20 from location coordinatesm5 of the vehicle 10 at the second time of the vehicle to locationcoordinates m2 of the vehicle 10, which is spaced apart from thelocation coordinates m5 by the reference distance d, among previouslocation coordinates m1 to m4.

The movement trace from the location coordinates m2 of the vehicle tothe location coordinates m1, which is stored at the first time, may bedeleted at the second time.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which the restricteddriving area identifier 220 included in the reverse driving controldevice 130 identifies the restricted driving area 40 according to thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the driver of the vehicle 10 determines thatcontinuously driving the vehicle forward is not possible due to theexistence of obstacles (not shown) on the road in front of the vehicle10, the vehicle 10 may enter another road, for example, a road locatedat the left of the vehicle 10.

Meanwhile, when the other road is a restricted driving area 40 such as adead end or a one-way street, the restricted driving area identifier 220may inform the driver of the restricted driving area 40 before thevehicle 10 enters the restricted driving area 40.

For example, when a left turn signal of the vehicle 10 is turned on, therestricted driving area identifier 220 may predict a driving path of thevehicle 10 moving forward on the basis of location information of thevehicle 10 and map information corresponding to the location informationof the vehicle 10, so as to identify the restricted driving area 40 infront of the vehicle 10.

In order to inform the driver of the vehicle entering the restricteddriving area 40, the restricted driving area identifier 220 may displaythe restricted driving area 40 on a display screen 50 mounted to thevehicle 10. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

When the restricted driving area identifier 220 identifies therestricted driving area 40, the driver may have difficulty in manuallyreversing the vehicle and thus it is required to allow the vehicle 10 tobe autonomously reversed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment for determining a reverse driving path onwhich the vehicle 10 is autonomously reversed will be described.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which the reversedriving path determiner 230 included in the reverse driving controldevice 130 according to the present disclosure determines a reversedriving path.

When the restricted driving area 40 is identified, the driver maygenerate a reverse driving request signal through a physical button.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, the reverse driving path determiner 230 mayreceive a reverse driving request signal and determine a reverse drivingpath based on a driving path 60 generated on the basis of the movementtrace 20 stored in the movement trace storage unit 210.

For example, the movement trace storage unit 210 corrects locationinformation by matching the location information with map informationand the processing result of image data while the vehicle 10 movesforward and detects the movement trace 20 from the corrected locationinformation, and the reverse driving path determiner 230 generates thedriving path 60 that matches the entire movement trace and determinesthe driving path 60 as the reverse driving path.

The reverse driving request signal may include indication informationindicating a target point t. That is, the driver may generate a reversedriving request signal to make the vehicle 10 reversed up to only thetarget point t on the reverse driving path.

For example, the reverse driving path determiner 230 identify the targetpoint t from the indication information and determine a path from alocation m of the vehicle 10 to the target point t in the generateddriving path 60 as the reverse driving path.

Although not illustrated, the reverse driving path determiner 230 maydetermine whether the vehicle 10 can be reversed along the reversedriving path on the basis of information on whether there is an obstacledetected on the driving path 60. When the vehicle cannot be reversed,the reverse driving path determiner 230 may generate a driving pathdifferent from the driving path 60 on the basis of the locationinformation and the map information and determine again the driving pathas the reverse driving path.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates another embodiment in which the reversedriving path determiner 230 included in the reverse driving controldevice 130 according to the present disclosure determines a reversedriving path.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, when the movement trace storage unit 210partially stores the movement trace 20 in order to efficiently managethe storage capacity, the reverse driving path determiner 230 maygenerate the driving path 60 that matches the partially stored movementtrace 20 and determine the generated driving path 60 as the reversedriving path.

For example, the movement trace storage unit 210 stores the movementtrace 20 corresponding to a preset reference distance d in the detectedmovement trace and updates the stored movement trace 20 in the unit ofreference distance d while the vehicle 10 moves forward, and the reversedriving path determiner 230 generates the driving path 60 that matchesthe movement trace 20 and determines the driving path 60 as the reversedriving path.

The reference distance d is set from location coordinates m8corresponding to the current location of the vehicle 10 to locationcoordinates m4 which is one of the previous location coordinates m7 tom1, but this merely helps in understanding of the present disclosure andthe present disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates still another embodiment in which thereverse driving path determiner 230 included in the reverse drivingcontrol device 130 according to the present disclosure determines areverse driving path.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7, when the vehicle 10 moves forward whileleaning one side of the road, a driving path that matches the movementtrace 20 is determined as a reverse driving path, and the vehicle 10 isreversed, the vehicle 10 may bump into or be scratched by a road curb ora surrounding obstacle.

Accordingly, the reverse driving path determiner 230 may generate adriving path based on map information in order to generate a saferdriving path than the driving path that matches the movement trace 20.

For example, the reverse driving path determiner 230 generates a drivingpath 70 on the movement trace 20 on the basis of map information at thelocation of the vehicle 10 and determines the driving path 70 as thereverse driving path.

The location of the vehicle 10 corresponds to current locationcoordinates m8 of the vehicle 10 and previous location coordinates m1 tom7, the map information corresponds to the location of the vehicle 10,and the driving path 70 corresponds to a driving path based on the map.

Meanwhile, the reverse driving path determiner 230 may generate both thedriving path 60 that matches the movement trace 20 and the driving path70 based on the map information, and determine one of the two drivingpaths as the reverse driving path.

For example, the reverse driving path determiner 230 generates a firstdriving path 60 that matches the movement trace 20 and a second drivingpath 70 corresponding to the movement trace on the basis of the mapinformation at the location of the vehicle, selects one of the firstdriving path 60 and the second driving path 70, and determines theselected driving path as the reverse driving path.

When the reverse driving path determiner 230 determines the reversedriving path, the vehicle 10 may be reversed along the reverse drivingpath. At this time, when there is an obstacle on the reverse drivingpath, it is required to generate a local path to make the vehicle 10avoid the obstacle.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which the local pathgenerator 250 included in the reverse driving control device 130according to the present disclosure determines a local path 90.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, when the reverse driving path determiner 230determines the driving path 60 as the reverse driving path, the localpath generator 250 may generate the local path 90 to allow the vehicle10 to avoid a collision in consideration of a possibility of a collisionwith a target 80 existing on the reverse driving path when the vehicle10 is actually reversed along the reverse driving path.

Specifically, when at least one of the processing result of image datacaptured by the image sensor and the processing result of sensing datacaptured by the non-image sensor is transmitted to the local pathgenerator 250 and when driving information of the vehicle 10 such asvehicle speed information and steering angle information is transmittedto the local path generator 250, the local path generator 250 generatesa local path to avoid the collision with the target 80 by calculatingthe received processing result and driving information.

In one example, prior to determining the reverse driving path and inresponse to the detection of the restricted driving area, the controller200 may control an output device such as a display or a speaker of thevehicle to output information, such as a warning message, indicating therestricted driving area. The controller 200 may be configured to receivea command from the driver through an input device, such as a button, aknob, a touchscreen, and a voice recognition device installed in thevehicle, whether to perform an autonomous reverse driving operation, andbe configured to control the vehicle based on the received command.

In one example, prior to determining the reverse driving path and inresponse to a receipt of a turn signal to the restricted driving area,the controller 200 may control the output device to output theinformation indicating the restricted driving area. The controller 200may be configured to receive a command from the driver through the inputdevice whether to perform an autonomous reverse driving operation, andbe configured to control the vehicle based on the received command.

In one example, prior to determining the reverse driving path and inresponse to a determination that the vehicle drives towards therestricted driving area, the controller 200 may control the outputdevice to output the information indicating the restricted driving area.The controller 200 may be configured to receive a command from thedriver through the input device whether to perform an autonomous reversedriving operation, and be configured to control the vehicle based on thereceived command.

In one example, prior to determining the reverse driving path and inresponse to a determination that the vehicle drives in the restricteddriving area, the controller 200 may control the output device to outputthe information indicating the restricted driving area. The controller200 may be configured to receive a command from the driver through theinput device whether to perform an autonomous reverse driving operation,and be configured to control the vehicle based on the received command.

Hereinafter, a reverse driving control method by which the presentdisclosure can be implemented will be described.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a reverse drivingcontrol method according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, the reverse driving control method according to thepresent disclosure may include a step S910 of detecting and storing amovement trace of a vehicle moving forward, a step S920 of identifying arestricted driving area, based on at least one of a processing result ofimage data, location information, and pre-stored map information, a stepS930 of identifying whether a reverse driving request signal is receivedwhen the restricted driving area is identified, generating one or moredriving paths, based on, the stored movement trace when the reversedriving request signal is received, and determining the reverse drivingpath, based on the one or more driving paths, and a step S940 ofcontrolling movement of the vehicle to reverse the vehicle along thereverse driving path.

Hereinafter, a detailed embodiment of the reverse driving control methodaccording to the present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the reversedriving control method according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, in the reverse driving control method according tothe present disclosure, a movement trace of a vehicle moving forward isdetected and stored in S1010.

When the movement trace is stored, it is identified whether the vehicle10 enters a restricted driving area in S1020 in the reverse drivingcontrol method according to the present disclosure.

When it is identified that the vehicle 10 enters the restricted drivingarea, it is identified whether a reverse driving request signal isreceived from a driver in S1030 in the reverse driving control methodaccording to the present disclosure.

When the reverse driving request signal is received, one or more drivingpaths are generated on the basis of the stored movement trace and areverse driving path is determined on the basis of the one or moregenerated driving paths in S1040 in the reverse driving control methodaccording to the present disclosure.

When the reverse driving path is determined, the vehicle 10 is reversedalong the reverse driving path, but if there is a target on the reversedriving path, a local path is generated to allow the vehicle 10 to bereversed while avoiding the target in S1050 in the reverse drivingcontrol method according to the present disclosure.

In the reverse driving control method according to the presentdisclosure, a target speed, a target steering angle, and a targetacceleration are calculated to allow the vehicle 10 to reach a targetpoint of the reverse driving path in S1060.

In the reverse driving control method according to the presentdisclosure, it is determined whether the vehicle 10 reaches the targetpoint in S1070 and step 1070 is continuously performed until the vehicle10 reaches the target point.

When the vehicle 10 reaches the target point, the reverse drivingcontrol method according to the present disclosure ends the reversedriving control operation according to the present disclosure.

The aforementioned controller (or control unit) and/or the componentsthereof may include one or more processors/microprocessors coupled witha computer readable recording medium storing computer readablecode/algorithm/software. The processor(s)/microprocessor(s) may performthe above described functions, operations, steps, etc., by executing thecomputer readable code/algorithm/software stored on the computerreadable recording medium.

The aforementioned controller (or control unit) and/or the componentsthereof may be provided with, or further include, a memory implementedas a non-transitory computer readable recording medium or a transitorycomputer readable recording medium. The memory may be controlled by theaforementioned controller (or control unit) and/or the componentsthereof, and be configured to store data transmitted to/from theaforementioned controller (or control unit) and/or the componentsthereof or configured to store data processed or to be processed by theaforementioned controller (or control unit) and/or the componentsthereof.

The present disclosure can also be embodied as computer readablecode/algorithm/software stored on a computer readable recording medium.The computer readable recording medium may be a non-transitory computerreadable recording medium such as a data storage device that can storedata which can thereafter be read by a processor/microprocessor.Examples of the computer readable recording medium include a hard diskdrive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a silicon disc drive (SDD),read-only memory (ROM), CD-ROM, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, opticaldata storage devices, etc. As described above, according to the presentdisclosure, it is possible to provide an apparatus and a method forcontrolling a reverse driving to provide driving convenience bycontrolling an autonomous reverse driving when a vehicle enters a deadend or a one-way street by mistake.

Further, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to preventa safety accident by providing an apparatus and a method for controllinga reverse driving by which a vehicle can be autonomously reversed whileavoiding obstacles existing in the back of the vehicle.

The above description and the accompanying drawings provide an exampleof the technical idea of the present disclosure for illustrativepurposes only. Those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field,to which the present disclosure pertains, will appreciate that variousmodifications and changes in form, such as combination, separation,substitution, and change of a configuration, are possible withoutdeparting from the essential features of the present disclosure.Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure areintended to illustrate the scope of the technical idea of the presentdisclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited bythe embodiment. That is, at least two elements of all structuralelements may be selectively joined and operate without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosureshall be construed on the basis of the accompanying claims in such amanner that all of the technical ideas included within the scopeequivalent to the claims belong to the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for controlling a reverse driving ofa vehicle, the apparatus comprising: an image acquisition device,mounted to the vehicle, configured to capture image data indicating afield of view of the image acquisition device including an exterior ofthe vehicle; a location information receiver configured to receivelocation information of the vehicle; and a controller comprising atleast one processor configured to process at least one of the image datacaptured by the image acquisition device or the location information,wherein the controller is configured to: identify a restricted drivingarea, based on at least one of a processing result of the image data orthe location information, prior to determining a reverse driving path,in response to the identification of the restricted driving area, and inresponse to a receipt of a turn signal toward the restricted drivingarea or a determination that the vehicle drives towards the restricteddriving area, control an output device to output information indicatingthe restricted driving area, receive a reverse driving request signal,determine the reverse driving path, based on a pre-stored movement traceof the vehicle when the restricted driving area is identified, andcontrol movement of the vehicle to autonomously reverse the vehiclebased on the reverse driving path.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe controller is further configured to correct the location informationby matching the location information with map information and theprocessing result of the image data while the vehicle moves forward, anddetect a movement trace from the corrected location information, and thecontroller is further configured to generate a driving path that matchesthe movement trace and determines the driving path as the reversedriving path.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller isfurther configured to store a movement trace corresponding to a presetreference distance in the detected movement trace and update the storedmovement trace while the vehicle moves forward, and the controller isfurther configured to generate a driving path that matches the movementtrace and determine the driving path as the reverse driving path.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 2, wherein the reverse driving request signalcontains indication information indicating a target point, and thecontroller is further configured to identify the target point from theindication information and to determine a path from the location of thevehicle to the target point along the generated driving path as thereverse driving path.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is further configured to generate a driving pathcorresponding to the movement trace and based on the map information atthe location of the vehicle and determine the driving path as thereverse driving path.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is further configured to generate a first driving path thatmatches the movement trace and a second driving path corresponding tothe movement trace and based on the map information at the location ofthe vehicle, select one of the first driving path and the second drivingpath, and determine the selected driving path as the reverse drivingpath.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to control movement of the vehicle by calculating at leastone of a target acceleration, a target speed, or a target steeringangle.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the restricted drivingarea is identified, the controller is further configured to perform atleast one control of deceleration control for decelerating the vehicleor warning control for providing a warning.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the restricted driving area includes a dead end or a one-waystreet.
 10. A vehicle comprising the apparatus of claim
 1. 11. Anapparatus for controlling a reverse driving, the apparatus comprising:an image acquisition device, disposed at a vehicle, configured tocapture image data indicating a field of view of the image acquisitiondevice including an exterior of the vehicle; a non-image sensor, mountedto the vehicle, configured to capture sensing data indicating a field ofsensing of the image acquisition device including the exterior of thevehicle; a location information receiver configured to receive locationinformation of the vehicle; and a domain controller comprising aprocessor configured to process at least one piece of the image datacaptured by the image acquisition device or the sensing data captured bythe non-image sensor, and further to process the location information,wherein the domain controller is configured to: detect and store amovement trace of the vehicle moving forward, identify a restricteddriving area, based on at least one of a processing result of the imagedata, the location information, or pre-stored map information, prior todetermining a reverse driving path, in response to the identification ofthe restricted driving area, and in response to a receipt of a turnsignal toward the restricted driving area or a determination that thevehicle drives towards the restricted driving area, control an outputdevice to output information indicating the restricted driving area,receive a reverse driving request signal, generate one or more drivingpaths, based on the stored movement trace when the reverse drivingrequest signal is received, determine the reverse driving path, based onthe one or more driving paths, and control movement of the vehicle toautonomously reverse the vehicle based on the reverse driving path. 12.An apparatus for controlling a reverse driving of a vehicle, theapparatus comprising: an image acquisition device, mounted to thevehicle, configured to capture image data indicating a field of view ofoutside of the vehicle; and a processor configured to: detect and storea forward movement trace of the vehicle from a first location to asecond location, based on the image data and location information of thevehicle, in response to a detection of a restricted driving area,receive a reverse driving request signal, prior to determining a reversedriving path, in response to the detection of the restricted drivingarea, and in response to a receipt of a turn signal toward therestricted driving area or a determination that the vehicle drivestowards the restricted driving area, control an output device to outputinformation indicating the restricted driving area, determine, based onthe forward movement trace of the vehicle, the reverse driving path fromthe second location toward the first location, and output a controlsignal to autonomously control the vehicle to reverse based on thereverse driving path.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 12, whereinthe processor is further configured to identify the restricted drivingarea, based on at least one of the image data or the locationinformation.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: generate a driving pathcorresponding to the forward movement trace and based on map informationat a location of the vehicle and determine the driving path as thereverse driving path.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: determine a first driving path thatmatches the forward movement trace and a second driving pathcorresponding to the forward movement trace and based on map informationat a location of the vehicle, select one of the first driving path andthe second driving path, and determine the selected driving path as thereverse driving path.
 16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein therestricted driving area includes a dead end or a one-way street.
 17. Avehicle comprising the apparatus of claim
 12. 18. A method forcontrolling a reverse driving of a vehicle, the method comprising:receiving image data indicating a field of view of outside of thevehicle; detecting and storing a forward movement trace of the vehiclefrom a first location to a second location, based on the image data andlocation information of the vehicle; in response to a detection of arestricted driving area, receiving a reverse driving request signal,prior to determining a reverse driving path, in response to thedetection of the restricted driving area, and in response to a receiptof a turn signal toward the restricted driving area or a determinationthat the vehicle drives towards the restricted driving area, controllingan output device to output information indicating the restricted drivingarea, determining, based on the forward movement trace of the vehicle,the reverse driving path from the second location toward the firstlocation; and outputting a control signal to control the vehicle toautonomously reverse based on the reverse driving path.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 18, wherein the restricted driving area is identifiedbased on at least one of the image data or the location information. 20.The method according to claim 18, further comprising: generating adriving path corresponding to the forward movement trace and based onmap information at a location of the vehicle and determining the drivingpath as the reverse driving path.
 21. The method according to claim 18,further comprising: determining a first driving path that matches theforward movement trace and a second driving path corresponding to theforward movement trace and based on map information at a location of thevehicle, selecting one of the first driving path and the second drivingpath, and determining the selected driving path as the reverse drivingpath.
 22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions, that, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to perform the method of claim 18.